Detonics MkI: The Original Sub-Compact 1911 

Lovely story!

Thanks for being part of the team who produced these wonderful guns. I have a Bellevue version.

Are you familiar with Tinker Talks Guns? If not you should check him out.

I had an enjoyable evening 2nd shift visit to the Detonics Bellevue machine shop at a time when a former co-worker of mine worked there as a machinist in the late 70's. We both were career machinist, so it was of particular interest for me. Nice clean smooth-running shop with a well-armed staff.

That’s pretty cool!

Sheriff 001 ba-dum-tsh

Funny shit right there.

@@s.marcus3669 Huh? Anyone anywhere, of any age that knows what an auction is will understand.

@@OneEyeDollar6 Its mostly for gun connosieurs, ask someone who is a gun iliterate what a hammer is and they will have no clue

​@@A-G-F- Gun literacy is not specific to "Americans of certain age and intelligence".

I have one in a Stainless steel compact stamped patient pending on it don't know how old it is or how to date it's age

Don Martin fascinating! Thanks for sharing that 👍

Thank you for your service to the people,now and days police officers get a bad reputation,but they are people too and they put themselves in between the good guys and the bad guys on a daily basis and I commend you for that.That's very cool that you knew Sid Woodcock and we're his friend.

I spent some time with a guy who was involved in both the Seattle and Georgia Detonics, and he told me some stories. He was presented with two extractors, asked to evaluate them, expressed his preference and was told, "Sorry, the other one is a nickel cheaper." He said they were constantly trying to save pennies on the manufacturing side, while at headquarters they were driving Ferraris and "lighting their cigars with $100 bills".

Please, share more of your lovely stories, dear Don Martin

Jerry Ahern is gone now but I learned about these weapons the very same way.

Same here.

+John Smith I mostly remember the brand name because Officer Tackleberry had one in Police Academy 2. Who's with me? :)

yup John Rourke carried a pair of CombatMasters along with a Colt Python, a CAR 15, and a Steyr SSG I believe! I loved the Survivalist books!

ZGryphon -Yeah his was a Scoremaster, as he explained to his motor partner

Bagley0759 Yes he sure did! I have a blued Combat Master, probably late 1970’s vintage. When they started being re-produced in Georgia, I talked with a guy on the phone down there about what the new magazines for them would be like. I think his name was Peter Dunn. He said he was actually around when they were being made in Seattle. I gave him my serial number range and he said it was late 1970’s vintage. Great guy to talk with. Wasn’t in a hurry to get off the phone & very knowledgeable, obviously. I carried it as a off duty weapon in civilian L.E. for over 25 years, then ended up going to a Colt Defender, just because of the weight difference with the alloy frame. My old bones with arthritis really noticed the difference right away. By the way, I’ve read & still have all of the Survivalist paper back books from the 1980’s. Good Day to You!

Same here, I loved those books back in the day.

+Mrgunsngear Channel Seems pretty common sense to me. If you change slide weights your going to have to change springs too.

people are dumb. John Moses Browning did all the math and experimenting to get the timing perfect.....once you change the slide length, spring weights, ect.....you have a completely new gun and have to work out all the bugs. now it's less reliable and more finicky. I don't trust anything smaller than a Commander size 1911. not saying they don't work....they're less forgiving of worn springs and magazines

ur finding defears when u need engin ears lol

probably because they don't care.

It's of course true, but it is a stand out feature of the Detonics. While the Detonics was the first and actually smaller(grip is shorter) the other small 1911s that came later are inferior timing wise. The slide stroke length on a Detonics Combat Master is longer than on an officer model or one of the many clones. On an officer pattern 1911 the slide only travels far enough back for the breach face to just clear the magazine well. On a Detonics the slide still travels far enough back to clear the disconnector. This difference makes the Detonics much more reliable than an officer pattern 1911. Officer pattern 1911s are very magazine sensitive as there's not enough dwell time where the breach is open and they outrun the magazine. The Detonics does not have this problem. I carry an original cut/welded frame MK1, it's a reliable firearm when well maintained and ya just can't get more punch in a smaller package. There's much more detail to what makes the Detonics uniquely good.

Crazy, right?

+tenhundredkills Considering new commander sized 1911's go at an MSRP of $1200 and up. Don't forget this particular weapon has historical significance in the lineage of the 1911 so I would say $600 to $800 is a steal. Can I afford that? Not really, I'm not into collecting, but still I consider it a steal. I would not be surprised to see this pistol sell for much more. Time will tell. Ian's been updating video comments with hammer prices. I hope he continues to do so.

+William Hayden I gotta agree. With the pistol being up for auction, there's the possibility that a couple of fanatical collectors will bid to the death for it! On the other hand, maybe no one will even bother with it. If I didn't have to go to school full time, I'd be jumping all over this gun!

+tenhundredkills my dad god a rock island officer model for 450 at a gun show. new

NIB Colts were $600 in the late 70s early 80s

Michael Emberley Yes! I’ve read that whole series & actually forgot about the mentioning of the shoulder holster. However I do remember the “Milt Sparks Six Pack” was also mentioned a lot. If I remember, the character John Rourke got the Six Pack as a gift or something like that, from someone he ran across on his journey he embarked on after the smoke cleared from the destruction that happened across the world. Now that I think about it, the movie “The Book of Eli” with Denzel Washington has a similar theme to it like the character in the book series. Good Day to You!

A bit odd that one would use shoulder holsters for Detonics though, given how compact they are. It would be very easy to carry them in the waistband, vest pocket, coat pocket, or pants pocket. Pretty much anywhere else, really. When I think shoulder holster, I think of larger guns.

+Jason “cyberspace entity” Doe I personally don't find the 1911 charming. It was grate for it's time, but it's weight, low magazine size, and finicky maintenance requirements make it a poor choice in most modern scenarios, professional or not. It is a damn pretty gun, though.

James Beale Who? Is that your petname for your strawman?

SnarfTheHoovySlayer Well, I mostly meant it in terms of aesthetics :)

+SnarfTheHoovySlayer heresy I say. browning's design is practically perfect in every way.

+SnarfTheHoovySlayer Maintenance requirements? You think it's an M9 or an XM16? As for weight, it's less than half a pound heavier than a Beretta 92FS or Hi Power; all steel and it also has a longer/wider barrel. As for capacity, it's a single stack, as was standard for decades and decades after it was designed. It's partially thanks to this quality as to why it's such a thin design compared to modern double stack pistols. Why it feels so natural in the hand. It's much easier to carry concealed than something like a double stack Glock, all while using the beefy .45 ACP. It's also very easy to do a full disassembly on a Mil Spec M1911 than just about any modern double stack design. I can take mine down entirely without the use of tools, and have actually done so twice while blind folded; first time took 45 minutes, second time took half an hour. There's a reason why some people still carry the M1911 design, and indeed why the M1911 design is still in service to this day. It's proven itself time and time again. Accurate, reliable, ergonomic, easy to maintain, maintenance itself isn't a hugely important issue, and anyone with bit of time on their hands can learn the internal workings of the design so as to become their own gunsmith. It would be all too easy for me to replace the hammer, trigger, mag release, sear, disconnect, mainspring housing, or what have you, all without the use of any tools. The weight doesn't bother me yet I've got a stainless steel model; Springfield Armoury Mil Spec. I hear it's one of the heavier models available, just looked it up, apparently 39oz with an empty mag, which is 2.43lb, or about 1.1kg. 230gr ball .45 ACP is about 21 rounds per pound, so add in 7 rounds, and we're looking at about 2.76lb or around 1.25kg. We're not talking about a 4lb Desert Eagle here. Even WWII mil spec models made 70+ years ago have been taken to about 72m (80yd) at Hickok45's compound, so you clearly don't need a souped up $2000 model just to get decent accuracy. If there were reliability issues, something tells me it would have been discovered at some point in the past 104 years. No, I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree on this one; the M1911 design is old, but it is not a poor choice "in most modern scenarios, professional or not." It's not the only pistol I own either; I also have a Hi Power and CZ-75 Pre-B for double stack designs, and for single stack, P38 and TT33. I find I just seem to inherently shoot better with the P38, but it's such an outrageously wide design for a single stack, and I hate the slide mounted safety. Even if I owned a Beretta 92FS or M9, I definitely believe I'd still hold the M1911 as my personal favourite pistol, with the Hi Power being my favourite 9mm pistol. Everyone has their preferences of course. The Glock 21 is of course lighter, and has higher capacity, as well as a simpler field strip, but I've handled a Glock before. I definitely prefer the M1911's ergonomics, I appreciate the ease of which it can be completely disassembled (right down to the magazine release spring which I use the leaf spring to remove), and having that manual safety there adds a layer of comfort, as well as being able to cock/decock the design at a whim not to mention able to visually see whether it's cocked or not. Little details, but for some, it's the details that make the difference.

+Elijah Decker Then he can make more videos. yaysies

+Elijah Decker I know, but when they already do the work of finding rare and interesting guns for him, it's hard not to take up the opportunity.

In reality, we all basically live where we work, we just sleep somewhere else.

Vomit The Soul Good point.

+Shoes Don't forget Ian provides a very valuable service to the auction houses as well by providing video footage of these firearms as well as historical and/or interesting information. That makes the value of these firearms easier for buyers to ascertain and thus sell. Ian is in a word is an asset. It's a relationship that benefits us all. :)

+FD Mackey Yeah, first thing i thought about this was backup. Instantly.

Me Too,

and he also wrote for gun magazines

I don't know man, tiny guns in big calibres still suck. Have you tried shooting a tiny, lightweight .357 Mag snubbie? Or a baby Glock in 10mm? You can buy those guns, and carry them for defense, but very few people have the wrists to properly practice with those. I'm not convinced that the increase in calibre is worth the decrease in usability. That said, this particular gun looks shootable enough. A decent steel frame should tame those .45s, even in the smaller package. If this was polymer framed, that would be a different story.

@@gabrielfraser2109 Can't believe a .357 snubby is any more unpleasant on the receiving end than it is for the shooter!

schizoidboy Actually the Bren Ten they initially used in the series was a 10mm. After so many episodes, someone decided it was sort of impractical for a detective to carry a Bren Ten, so they changed Crockett’s sidearm to a S&W 645, .45ACP. The Detonics was a stainless model, meaning I guess it would be lighter for carrying in the ankle holster. Good Day to You!

@@tierone4761 Actually, there were no 10mm blanks in Hollywood, so Sonny's Bren was a .45.

@@kimisdaman - Do you know how easy it is to make a blank from a live cartridge?

crpope10 mack bolan?

ramped= The feed " ramp" of the barrel was polished to a mirror sheen. Sloped could refer to 2 things: tightening of the action for accuracy or it could refer to the "slope" cut at the rear sight on the Detonics combat master. both were factory upgrades done to all Combat Masters. My Jerry Ahern era Georga Made Detonics USA stainless Combat Master came from the factory exceptionally well fitted and with a perfect barrel, I build 1911's as a hobby (once as a profession and I really have no room to improve upon the work that was done from the factory. I'll go out on a limb here and say for the record: *"The Georga manufactured Detonics Pistols were some of the finest "factory" 1911's and derivatives ever made bar NONE."* ESPECIALLY for the price paid. Mainly because each and every one was treated like a full custom shop 1911 hand fitted and no attention to detail spared.

Santos Salinas, The Survivalist by Jerry Ahern. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Survivalist_(novel_series)

@@santossalinas4221 😆😆 I remember them!

I believe that was the Mack Bolan series

I think it was some clever engineering, slapped with some clever marketing.

Likewise.

who doesn't like his videos? communist?

mrweeby1961 Great story. I have what I believe is a blued finish MK1, which I purchased in 1996 for $500.00. I’ve been picking up factory magazines every so often thru out the years if I found one for a good price, usually they’ve been $40.00 -$65.00, but it’s been 10 years or so since I got the last one & it seems like they’re not around much anymore, at least not for that price. Good Day to You!

+REPO831 And Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry with the S&W M29.

I remember Johnson using it in Miami Vice but I always thought even being a subcompact that 45 was an awfully hefty thing to have strapped to your ankle. I'd think it would make him walk funny.

Small, but about 35oz loaded.

Don Johnson was also the only person to "kill" anyone with the I'll fated Bren Ten. 😂

Don Johnson also helped increase the popularity of Glaco's Jackass shoulder holster, as it was the holster Rick Gallagher (then president of Galco gunleather) personally fitted him with when Miami Vice started its run on tv. Each time Crockett got a new pistol, Galco modified the holster as needed. In honor of its popularity with fans of the show, Galco renamed it the Miami Classic and it is still made today.

I miss Star

he also carried the detonics 45. as well as a few other guns.

I think he went to the pocket 9 during the bren 10 Era. Had one but needed cash more

Wow, I'd HATE to be an American who has to walk, drive, and even sleep with a loaded gun at hand. What makes you think you are in a combat zone all the time? Or is it the gun press, constantly egging us on to buy, carry, use, store, conceal a weapon everywhere. No "freedom" in that. The "right to bear arms (and it meant a musket!!!) doesn't mean you HAVE to bear arms every waking moment! Yes a cop should be armed, at least in dangerous USA, but still, to have to lug around a handgun ALL the time- is like insuring your house on a hillside, against floods, tsunamis, volcanos, theft (of the house itself) all to enrich the insurance company, because they "sold" you on the perceived possible risk!

Lofts Sympatico Its a freedom to carry a firearm legally. There is nothing wrong with it.

@@loftsatsympaticodotc Not only that, millions of crimes are stopped with firearms.

Lofts Sympatico I think you should look at the history of the 2nd amendment. They knew of Gatling guns and multi-barreled guns at the time as well. Don’t forget “shall not be infringed”

@@loftsatsympaticodotc .....here's the reason......when seconds count, the police are only a mere few minutes away......

The Survivalist series by Jerry Ahearn...

@@jefflockaby702 Thanks!

Ehh, .450SMC would also do the job, and it's no harder on the weapon than .45+P. I'd rather shoot the .450SMC in a carbine, though. most of the extra power is really wasted in a pistol-length barrel.